Failures
by justanoutlaw
Summary: Two mothers, who have now lost their children a second time, bond after one has a nightmare.


Snow walked into the nursery, her eyes widening at the sight. It had changed so much since she last entered it. Long gone was the crib and all the toys. It had a huge canopy bed and a full length vanity, though the colors weren't at all like her own had been as a child. There were lots of reds and blacks. The only sign of any brightness was the familiar knit baby blanket that had the purple ribbon laced through it. She walked closer and picked it up, sniffing it.

"I'm afraid people would be disappointed if they knew that their future queen still slept with her baby blanket."

The familiar voice caused her to spin around and she found Emma standing there, wearing a red leather dress. Her hair was thrown back in a bun, makeup accenting her features. She looked like the modern princess that Snow had pictured since she realized that Emma was her daughter.

"Emma," she whispered. "How are you here?"

"Why do you think? You miss me, so, I'm back."

"This isn't real, it can't be real."

"Of course it's not. You let me go," she circled her mother and whispered in her ear. "You failed me."

Terror filled Snow's eyes. "Emma…"

"You let me go again, now I have no memory of you, I'm gone. This is all a fantasy, what we could've, should've had."

"I didn't have a choice, you had to protect Henry."

"Something you never did for me."

Snow studied her daughter closely, tilting her head. This wasn't the daughter she had known. Emma understood why she had given her up the first time, she had to understand that she had no input in the most recent separation.

"You're not Emma."

A laugh escaped her daughter's lips, but soon she was replaced by a green cloud of smoke and Zelena was in her spot. "Aye, you're smarter than you look."

"I will get my daughter back, we'll be a family."

"Will you? Because right now, I have your daughter being looked after by someone and I doubt she'll be anything but okay."

With a flick of a wrist, a mirror appeared before her. Flames appeared, circling Emma furiously as she screamed for Henry, for anyone. Snow went to step closer, but suddenly the room she was in, went up in flames.

"Emma!" She screamed. "Emma!"

"She can't hear you, princess. She's trapped, just like you."

"Snow! Snow!"

Snow's eyes flickered open, her breath heavy. She found Regina's eyes locked on her own, her hands on her shoulders.

"Shhh, it was just a nightmare."

"Emma," she whimpered, sitting up and placing a protective hand on her baby bump. She was reminded once again that it wasn't her daughter, but her unborn child. She could do all she could protect them…but not her firstborn. "She's in trouble."

"It was a bad dream, Emma and Henry are fine, I made sure of it."

"How can you know? Zelena showed me a mirror, Emma was trapped in a fire, suddenly I was in the burning room again."

Regina shook her head. "Zelena found a way into your dreams, but she wasn't showing you something real. She was showing you one of Emma's false memories."

Snow tilted her head. "What?"

"Henry and Emma are in New York City, I made sure of that. However, I gave them memories of living in Boston for 11 years before that. They moved to the city after their apartment burned down, but that never really happened. It's like how you thought you were a teacher for 28 years."

"Oh."

"They're fine, Snow. I wouldn't let either of our children be in danger."

Snow nodded, getting out of bed and looking around.

"Where's David?"

"He woke up an hour ago, I said I'd come up here and check on you since it's not like you to sleep so late." She placed a hand on her cheek. "Snow, you're paler than normal. It's okay, I told you, it was just a nightmare."

"Zelena was masqueraded as Emma, she said something." Snow bit down on her lip. "She said I failed her and she was right."

"No, she wasn't."

"Yes, she was. Regina, I let her go, twice now."

"Because you had no choice. Look at me," she tilted her chin so they were on eye level. "You gave Emma up the first time to save her from…well, me. This time, someone had to look after Henry. I wish more than anything that it was me, for selfish reasons and so that the three of you could still be a family. But know one thing, you did not fail her. You did what was best for her, always."

"I can't be apart from her for much longer." Snow sighed when she realized who she was talking to. "I'm sorry. I know, I know. I have David, I have this baby…you lost Henry."

"I may only have Henry, but that doesn't make your pain any less real. You've lost Emma more times than you should've. We're going to find a way back to them, I promise."

Snow let out a shaky breath. "Since when did you become the one with the hope speeches?"

Regina laughed, shaking her head. "I've learned from the best. Now come on, you and that baby need to eat."


End file.
